Kelly McParland: Ottawa’s pot plan is about control, not fun

Proponents of open and easy access to legalized marijuana will not be pleased by the tone of a new discussion paper released by the federal government. If anyone thought the breezy support for recreational pot offered by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the campaign trail would translate into neighbourhood “dispensaries” peddling a rich and varied assortment of products to passing clients, they will be deeply disappointed. The plan looks much more likely to be about control, policing and regulation. Fun has nothing to do with it.

The paper is titled Towards the Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana. That offers a sense of the government’s thinking as it works toward legislation to legalize the drug, which has been promised for next spring. A key concern of the authors is the avoidance of “normalization” — i.e., preventing the impression that Ottawa actually approves of marijuana use — which might